


Pa‘a ka moku i ka helēuma

by LiveLaughLovex



Series: nothing half so pleasant [4]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Post-Episode: s09e15 Ho'opio 'la e ka noho ali'i a ka ua (Made Prisoner), Spoilers for Episode: s09e15 Ho'opio 'la e ka noho ali'i a ka ua (Made Prisoner)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-16
Updated: 2019-02-16
Packaged: 2019-10-29 11:26:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17807120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiveLaughLovex/pseuds/LiveLaughLovex
Summary: Post s09e15. Steve told her once, back when they first started working together, that they'd never stop being family. It was nice to see, especially after spending so much time apart, that that promise held true.





	Pa‘a ka moku i ka helēuma

Kono wasn’t exactly sure why they’d all decided to gather at Steve’s in the aftermath of the tornado. She decided it best not to question it. He’d offered free alcohol when he called to extend the invite. She was never going to be one to turn that kind of offer down. She just asked what time to be there and what to bring, and that’d been that. She’d made herself plans for the evening.

Danny and Rachel were already there with Charlie when she arrived. Steve was manning the grill, though he seemed slightly more focused on the argument he was having with Danny over how to prepare the steaks. Rachel seemed barely able to suppress her amused eyeroll as she glanced away from them to check on the little boy playing happily in the sand out by the water. As soon as she caught sight of Kono, however, she stood from her seat with the same fond, friendly smile she’d shown the detective sergeant many times in the past and moved forward to embrace her.

“Oh, thank God you’re here,” the British native muttered under her breath as they moved toward the picnic table set up near the grill. “I was about to strangle one or both of them if left to my own devices for much longer.”

“Happy to be of service,” Kono laughed as she settled onto the bench across from her friend’s ex-wife. “I’m glad to see everyone’s still in one piece. That storm was something else.” She then shot Steve a concerned look. “Everyone is still in one piece, right? Everyone else on your team is…?”

“They’re all fine. Uh, Tani and Junior went through a little something when they were helping to evacuate, but they made me promise not to tell you. They want to tell you themselves. And that guard I was telling you about on the phone, Maku? Looks like he’s going to make it.”

“Good,” Kono murmured, ripping apart the paper napkin in front of her. “I’m glad to hear that. I heard you had a part in bagging Vega, too? You left that part of the story out, you know.”

“Yeah, well, technically the fact that he was there at all was supposed to be classified, so…” Steve shrugged. “Sorry.”

“You do know I have high-level security clearance with the Bureau because of the national aspect of the investigation I just finished up with, right?” Kono drawled, taking a sip of the cold beer Danny extended in her direction.

“You worked for the FBI?” Rachel asked incredulously.,

“God, no. Too much paperwork and bureaucracy for me. No, I just worked under their jurisdiction for a while. When the states wouldn’t grant us immunity and means within the borders, the feds did it instead. That’s all. If I ever do end up working for the Bureau, though, please rush me to the hospital and make sure I have a pulse. I will have definitely been replaced by a very realistic robot.”

“We will remember that. Oh, Auntie Kono, you’ve got incoming,” Steve warned her, smiling as Charlie spotted his honorary aunt for the first time since she’d arrived and headed in her direction as fast as his little legs would take him.

“Auntie Kono!” Charlie greeted boisterously, practically launching himself into her arms. “You’re here!”

“Hey, Charlie,” Kono laughed, hugging the little boy back. “I’m very glad for this warm welcome, but you just saw me a few days ago, buddy.”

“But that happened _forever_ ago,” Charlie whined, finally releasing his hold on her neck and allowing her to place his feet back on the ground.

“You know what? You’re absolutely right. It was forever ago, and I promise to try not to stay away so long again, all right?”

Charlie nodded enthusiastically. “Okay. Daddy, I’m hungry.”

“Hey, kid, complain to your Uncle Steve, not me. He’s in charge of feeding you today.”

The fair-haired boy obediently turned to look at his father’s partner. “Uncle Steve, I’m hungry.”

“And I am going to feed you,” Steve promised, sliding the smallest of the steaks onto the plate he’d placed aside at some point before Kono’s arrival. “Here you go, buddy. You get first choice, huh?” He ruffled the little boy’s hair with his free hand. “Sides are over with your mom and Auntie Kono, yeah? Go bother them now.”

Charlie was in the middle of doing just that when Tani and Junior arrived, both of them pulling in at the same time. Kono didn’t dare question why that was. From the knowing look Steve had on his face as they walked into the backyard, he was already aware of whatever it was that was going on between those two, and it didn’t seem he had any problems with it. Instead, he simply pulled Charlie aside to eat in the little chair they’d already set up by the grill, therefore freeing the table itself for those not small enough to squeeze themselves into a child-sized seat.

“Hey,” Kono called as they approached. “Your boss man here told me I had to wait till you two got here to hear this story of yours. What’s the story?”

“Eh, you know,” Tani sighed as she slid onto the seat across from Kono and lowered her voice. “I got caught up in the middle of a drug dispute while trying to evacuate a family and ended up being held at gunpoint until Junior came – unneeded, I might add – to my rescue.”

“You were going to go at a guy with a gun with a kitchen knife. I’d say the rescue was needed,” Junior argued quietly.

“Yeah, as someone who’s been in that position, I’m sure you had it under control, but guns are always better than knives. Then again, I think I once beat someone who had a gun with a scalpel, so…” Kono shrugged. “You’re alive. Just focus on that.” She then turned back to the oblivious little boy standing between Danny and Steve. “Charlie, how are you feeling about that potato salad?”

“It’s really good,” the boy assured her.

Steve leaned down to speak directly into her ear, therefore insuring she was the only one that heard him. “It was store-bought, wasn’t it?”

“I literally cannot cook without my fire alarm thinking I’m trying to commit arson,” Kono murmured back. “I wasn’t in the mood to poison the kids, so yeah. It’s store-bought.”

“You’re a good friend,” Steve told her seriously, patting her on the shoulder as he pulled away.

“Yeah,” she sighed exasperatedly, glancing up at him with a smirk. “You, too.”

**Author's Note:**

> The title's translation is: "The ship is held fast by the anchor." It is traditionally used to describe marriage, but I felt it applied here, as well.


End file.
